The Syrian Coalition said that Russia has put itself in a corner by continuing to support the Assad regime, stressing that Russia must prove itself neutral if it wants to become part of the political process.

Member of the Syrian Coalition Ruba Habboush said that Russia has so far failed to deliver on its obligations as a guarantor the cease-fire agreement, adding that "Moscow’s failure to meet its international obligations will have serious repercussions.”

Haboush pointed out that Moscow is reneging on its commitments as a guarantor of the ceasefire agreement to serve its own interests. She added that Russia’s actions encourage the Assad regime to continue to bomb civilians using internationally banned weapons, especially chemical weapons, the latest of which was the attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rural Idlib on April 4.

Member of the Coalition’s political committee Mohammed Jouja slammed Russia’s escalation of its aerial campaign on the liberated areas. The intensified Russian airstrikes have left dozens of civilian casualties in the past few days.

The Coalition’s media department said it has recorded no fewer than 50 truce violations by the Russian air force which has carried out dozens of airstrikes on around 50 rebel-held towns villages on Sunday and Monday.

Assad regime and Russian forces have violated the truce on over 840 occasions since April 1, the media department said. Regime forces and their allied foreign militias were responsible for 586 truce violations, while Russian forces were responsible for 254.

Jouja stressed the need to bolster the cease-fire agreement, adding that regime forces must withdraw from all the areas they have captured since the cease-fire agreement took effect in December 30. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

The Syrian Coalition said that Russia, as a guarantor of the ceasefire agreement, must abide by the terms of the agreement and to stop providing a cover-up of the crimes of the Assad regime and its allied foreign militias.

Member of the Coalition’s political committee Yasser Farhan said that Moscow is still covering the crimes of the regime and has not yet delivered on its commitments as a guarantor of the ceasefire agreement. Farhan called for the revival of the agreement and for putting an end to the truce violations by regime forces and the Iranian-backed militias.

Moscow should not obstruct efforts aimed at holding the Assad regime accountable for the chemical weapons attack against civilians in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Farhan stressed. Restarting the political process aimed at finding a political solution can only be achieved through the establishment of a comprehensive cease-fire, he added.

Farhan also called for the release of all detainees in Syria in accordance with international resolutions, especially UN Security Council resolution 2254. He noted that all detainees the Assad regime has so far released have been freed through prisoner swap deals with the armed opposition, adding that the regime uses this tactic in violation of all international resolutions.

Farhan concluded his remarks by underscoring that Russia, which proclaimed itself as guarantor of the agreement, bears criminal, civil, and legal responsibilities for all violations of the ceasefire. He warned that Russia’s insistence on its current stance risks losing credibility as guarantor of the agreement in the eyes of the Syrian people. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

Truce violations by Russian forces have outnumbered those of Assad's forces over the past two days, according to figures compiled daily by the Syrian Coalition’s media department. Despite proclaiming itself a guarantor of the agreement, Russia has intensified its bombing raids on rebel-held areas in the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib over the past two days using internationally prohibited weapons.

The Coalition’s media department said it has recorded no fewer than 50 truce violations by the Russian air force which has carried out dozens of airstrikes on around 40 rebel-held towns villages in the past two days. Regime forces, meanwhile, committed no fewer than 40 truce violations on Sunday and Monday.

Assad regime and Russian forces have violated the truce on over 840 occasions since April 1, the media department said. Regime forces and their allied foreign militias were responsible for 586 truce violations, while Russian forces were responsible for 254.

Activists in rural Hama said that Russian jets on Monday carried out dozens of airstrikes on the towns Kafrzeita, Lataminah, Morek, Taybet Alimam, Kafranabouda, Halfaya, Souran, Buwaidah, and Zwar area. Internationally banned weapons, namely cluster bombs and the white phosphorus, were used in the intensifying airstrikes.

Activists in rural Aleppo, meanwhile, said that the Russian jets raided the towns of Daret Izza, Kubtan Aljabal, Ainjara, Qassimiya, and Sheikh Aqil in western rural Aleppo as well as the town of Yaqid Aladass in northern rural Aleppo. The airstrikes left dozens of civilian casualties. Airstrikes intentionally targeted a hospital in the village of Shinan, putting the facility out of service and injuring members of the medical staff. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

The Syrian Coalition said that Russia once again chose to stand by the Assad regime after it committed a new horrific crime against civilians using chemical weapons in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rural Idlib on April 4.

Member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee Mohammed Joujah said that all available evidence equivocally pointed to the Assad regime’s responsibility for the attack as analysis of samples collected from the site of the attack tested positive for the sarin agent.

Jouja stressed that it was not the first time Assad used chemical weapons in attacks against rebel-held areas, adding that the Assad regime had already carried out dozens of attacks using chemical weapons before April 4th.

Moscow still insists on supporting the murderous regime despite the horrific crimes it is committing against the Syrian people, Joujah added. He noted that the Russians are fully aware that the Assad regime was behind the attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

Member of the Syrian Coalition Dima Moussa said that Moscow cannot continue to proclaim itself a guarantor of the cease-fire agreement in view of its support for the Assad regime. She underscored that the "Russian behavior will further complicate the Syrian issue,” adding that Russia “bears primary responsibility for the crimes committed in Syria.”

Moussa stressed that Russia’s proclamation of itself a sponsor of the political process aimed at finding a political solution in Syria requires that it stands at the same distance between the regime and the opposition. "However, Russia seems to have chosen to align itself with the regime," Moussa said. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

Head of the Syrian interim government Jawad Abu Hatab said that the results of sample analysis carried out by independent institutions shows that the sarin nerve agent was used in the attack. The samples were collected from the site of the chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun. Abu Hatab stressed that these results leave no doubt that the Assad regime was behind the attack.

Abu Hatab said that the interim government formed a committee to follow up on the situation of those who were injured in the attack. The committee is co-chaired by Minister of Health in the interim government Mohammad Jundi and head of the directorate of health in Idlib. The interim government officials facilitated the entry of medical organizations and media outlets to the town of Khan Sheikhoun to document the chemical attack.

Some of those injured are still under intensive care as a result of inhaling large amounts of sarin, Abu Hatab said.

Residents of the town and survivors confirmed that the Assad regime’s aircraft carried out the attack.

Samples taken from the site of the deadly attack and analyzed by British scientists have tested positive for sarin or a sarin-like substance, Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

A four-page report prepared by US President Trump’s National Security Council staff and released by the White House on Tuesday, said that U.S. intelligence has proof that the plane that dropped the sarin nerve agent on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4 left from Shaerat airfield.

The dossier indicated that a regime Su-22 fixed-wing aircraft that took off from the regime-controlled Shaerat airbase delivered the chemical agent. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)

The Syrian Coalition strongly condemned Russia's vetoing of a draft resolution in the UN Security Council calling for an investigating into the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons in the town of Khan Sheikoun in rural Idlib on April 4.

“This decision is clearly aimed at supporting the perpetrators of the crime as Russia continues to block of the UN Security Council. It represents a violation of UN Security Council resolution 2118, especially Article III of the resolution,” said the Coalition in a press release issued on Thursday.

“By blocking the draft resolution, Russia has wriggled out of its commitment to the cease-fire agreement in Syria. The decision also seriously threatens any role for Russia in the political process in Geneva.”

The Coalition went on: “The Russian decision does not provide an appropriate climate for the success of negotiations. On the contrary, it encourages the Assad regime to commit more crimes without any fear of the consequences. Russia’s latest decision makes it directly complicit in Assad’s crimes as Russia continues to encourage the use of lethal internationally banned weapons and the violation of international resolutions.”

“The mere possession of the chemical weapons by the Assad regime was more than enough incentive for the international community to take action and put an end to this regime. The international community has not yet shown any serious response to Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians in two large massacres, in eastern Ghouta in 2013 and in Khan Sheikhoun in 2017, and dozens of other smaller scale attacks.”

“Moreover, this internationally condemned regime, which will inevitably fall, will be a burden on Russia and a condemnation that will go down in history unless they take a different position and stop providing a cover-up for the regime and respond to the will of the Syrian people to end the murderous regime and establish a democratic, pluralistic state,” the Coalition added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

The Syrian Coalition hailed the new EU strategy on Syria as having a positive impact on the political process and the political solution required to put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people.

"The strategy the EU formulated on Syria came after several months of in-depth meetings between representatives of the Syrian Coalition and the Syrian interim government on one side and EU representatives in the Belgian capital of Brussels and Istanbul and Gaziantep,” said Riad Hasan, Secretary of the Coalition’s political committee.

Hasan pointed out that representatives of the local councils, the Coalition-run Assistance Coordination Unit, and civil society organizations participated in the meetings.

The Syrian representatives presented a comprehensive vision for the administration of the liberated areas as well as some regime-held areas that are accessible to the opposition, Hasan added.

The European Union announced it will support a number of vital projects aimed at restoring stability and development activities.

The European Union on April 3 announced a six-point strategy on Syria. The strategy, titled Elements for an EU Strategy for Syria, has set a top priority to end the war “through a genuine political transition” in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254.

The EU reaffirmed continued support for the Syrian opposition and in particular the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) as the opposition delegation in the UN-brokered talks in Geneva.

The EU's strategic objectives in Syria will also be focused on “saving lives by addressing the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable Syrians across the country in a timely, effective, efficient and principled manner.”

The strategy also seeks to “promote democracy, human rights and freedom of speech by strengthening Syrian civil society organizations.”

Moreover, the EU strategy will be focused on promoting “accountability for war crimes with a view to facilitating a national reconciliation process and transitional justice.” It also included supporting “the resilience of the Syrian population and Syrian society.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

Secretary-General of the Syrian Coalition Abdul Ilah Fahd called on the Syrian people who are still living in areas controlled by the Assad regime to abandon Assad and join the revolution. He stressed that the Assad regime is teetering on the brink of collapse, adding that Assad will eventually be brought to trial as many war criminals before him.

Fahd, who was touring the areas liberated recently from the ISIS extremist group in northern Syria on Tuesday, said that all foreign militias and cross-border terrorist groups will be soon forced out of Syria under an international resolution brought about by the continued unrelenting will of the Syrian people.

These murderous militias will not have any presence in Syria after all the killing and destruction they have wrought on the country, Fahd added. He went on to say that transitional justice and accountability should be the basis for any political solution, vowing that all those whose hands are stained with the blood of the Syrian people will face justice.

Fahd underscored that unarmed civilians of all the components of the Syrian people will be safe and that the Syrian people will not seek revenge against each other. The national project of a unified Syria will safeguard the rights of all Syrians without exception and regardless of religion, sect, or ethnicity.

Fahd said that the Syrian people will rebuild their country, once a cradle of civilization, to be an example of a state of freedom, justice, and democracy and that the tyrannical regime will be defeated once and for all. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

Russian air force have intensified bombing raids on towns and villages in the provinces of Hama and Idlib using internationally banned weapons and causing dozens of civilian casualties. The Syrian Coalition slammed Russia’s continued support for the state terrorism of the Assad regime.

Activists in rural Idlib said that two people were killed and many more injured in Russian airstrikes on the town of Maarat Alnouman on Sunday. Russian forces used white phosphorus and cluster bombs, both internationally banned, in the airstrikes that targeted civilian homes.

More airstrikes using the white phosphorus hit the towns of Bseida, Saraqib, Sarmin, and Khan Sheikhoun as well as the outskirts of the towns of Deir Sharqi, Bsamis, Heesh, Maaret Hurma, Sheikh Mustafa, Ayn Suda, Taibat, and Shagar. The airstrikes left many people killed or injured.

Activists in rural Hama said that Russian air force has also intensified air raids on the towns and villages in the province using the white phosphorus, cluster bombs, and napalm. The most violent airstrikes targeted the towns of Kafarzeita, Lataminha, Souran, Halfaya, Maardes, Lahaya, and the outskirts of the town of ​​Ma'an.

Russian forces also committed a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of over 20 people, including women and children when Russian jets bombed the town of Orem Allouz in rural Idlib on Saturday.

The intensified Russian aerial bombings came in the wake of missile strikes the United launched on the regime-controlled Shaerat airbase in rural Homs on Friday. The airbase was the launch pad for the chemical weapons attack regime forces carried out on the town of Khan Sheikoun in rural Idlib on Tuesday, leaving around 100 people killed and 400 others injured, mostly women and children.

The Syrian Coalition condemned the Russian airstrikes. It renewed calls for the formation of an international coalition of the civilized world to confront the Assad regime and its backers, work to depose it, contribute to the efforts to reach a just political solution, and continue the fight against terrorism in all its forms, including the Assad regime and its allied sectarian militias.

The Coalition stressed that the Assad regime bears full responsibility for exposing Syria to all types of domination, occupation, mandate, and destruction. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

The Syrian Coalition renewed its full support for the heroes of the Free Syrian Army as it hailed the steadfastness they have been showing in repelling the aggression of the Assad regime, the Russian invaders, and the Iranian terrorist militias.

“Once again, the FSA fighters in Dara’a province, having showed unity and firm commitment to the principles of the revolution and the aspirations of the Syrians, have proved capable of defeating the terror of Assad and the Russian and Iranian invaders,” said the Coalition in a press release issued on Monday.

“The latest FSA gains in Dara’a came in response to endless list of violations of all cease-fire agreements by regime forces as well as their Russian and Iranian allies. By continuing to provide a political cover to the Assad regime, Russia supports the regime's terrorist crimes and wriggles out of its obligations as guarantor of the ceasefire agreement signed in Ankara on December 29, 2016.”

The Coalition went on: “The spectacular FSA gains in the Manshiyya district in Dara’a city and other areas across Syria have showed that all attempts to defeat the will of the Syrians are doomed to failure, and that our fate will not be determined in Russia or Iran, but in Syria and on its soil and at the hands of its sons and daughters.”

“It is incumbent on the international community to assume its responsibilities and immediately take measures to ensure protection of civilians in accordance with international law; put an end to the war crimes being committed against them by the Assad regime and its allies; and contributes to the efforts aimed at finding a just political solution and the combating of terrorism in all its forms, most notably the terrorism of Assad and the sectarian militias,” the Coalition added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)